


She's the Queen

by RinAngel



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cute, Drag Queen Qian Kun, Drag Queens, Established Relationship, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Makeup, idek what else to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:22:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinAngel/pseuds/RinAngel
Summary: It was crazy to Xuxi, suddenly, that there were boys in this world who couldn’t appreciate themagicof drag. It was like a goddamnsuperpower.(Or, Xuxi takes a one-night glimpse into Kun's charmed world of glitter and gloss, and wonders if he might like to apply for a tourist's visa after all.)
Relationships: Qian Kun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	She's the Queen

Kun was an honest person, but a reserved person, and Xuxi respected that— or at least, he tried to. There was _nothing_ reserved about Xuxi, especially not in a relationship. He and Hendery had fallen in love on the second date, moved in together within a month, exchanged rings within a year, shared trips, shared their hopes and fears, shared socks and underwear, and then fallen apart just as fast. They’d been together for a whirlwind of a year, they were still too awkward to talk to each other, and it still hurt sometimes, just a little.

His relationship with Kun was altogether different. The pace was slower, but they felt good, they felt _stable,_ and Xuxi really found himself thinking that this was something that could last. Nearly ten months together, and they still had separate apartments (though Xuxi had talked Kun into two guaranteed conjugal nights a week, one at his place and one at his boyfriend’s), separate friends, separate ambitions, and very separate states of mind.

So Kun was honest from the first date: “I’m a makeup artist and a performer.” But it had taken a few weeks for him to come completely clean with the _type_ of performance he did, and for an understandable reason. “Drag is polarizing. A lot of guys don’t want to date a drag queen. They think we’re all over-feminine and over-dramatic.” He’d shrugged mildly, sipping at his iced latte before adding, “I figured I should tell you soon, though, in case it’s a deal-breaker.”

“Of course it’s not a deal-breaker! I think it’s cool! It seems like it would be a hard job— a big commitment. I admire that,” Xuxi had assured him, taking his hand gently under the coffee shop table, the way they always did. Xuxi loved PDA, Kun disliked them, this was their compromise. “You’re so good to me. You’ve given me no reason to want to break up. If anything, it makes me want to support you even more!”

But Kun had been stubborn— their relationship was young, and he’d wanted to take things slowly, and that meant drawing a line between the two sides of his life. That meant that Xuxi couldn’t be around while Kun was practicing routines or working on costumes or wigs, and that Xuxi shouldn’t come to Kun’s shows, even if he knew where they were, even if they were in the bar so close to his apartment that he could hear the music down the block. And he tried, he fucking _tried._

A few days shy of their six month anniversary, Kun and Xuxi got in their first fight, and it was all because Xuxi had let his curiosity get ahead of Kun’s need for privacy. He’d surprised Kun at work on the night of his boyfriend’s 25th birthday, bringing flowers and a simple diamond necklace that he hoped was versatile enough to wear with either male or female clothing. For the first time, he stood in the back of a club and saw _The Queen_ step out onstage, looking ethereal in wavy black hair and a short, tight, _sexy_ red dress. Xuxi was awestruck, positively _riveted_ as he watched Kun sing. Six months in, how had ne never heard him _really_ sing before? His mind was blown, _his mind was blown._

His baby was so good, _so amazing._ Seeing him perform was indescribable, but it wasn’t worth the irritation in Kun’s eyes when he found him in the crowd, when he descended the stage stairs _startlingly_ quick in his stilettos and grabbed Xuxi by the elbow to pull him outside, into the alleyway behind the club that stank like stale cigarette smoke.

“This is the one thing I ask of you, Xuxi, the space to have my career. Can’t I have that one thing from you?”

“Honestly… I wish I could understand why you felt the way you do,” Xuxi picked his words carefully, avoiding Kun’s eyes despite the overwhelming temptation to study every angle of the beauty that was his face. (His signature, Xuxi would later learn, was his dark eye makeup with a severe cat-eye tilt.) “If you worked in an office, I would want to stop by once in awhile and visit you at work. And you would let me, wouldn’t you?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little different?”

“Yeah, I do. I see that this is something you _live_ for, and I know nothing about it, and I really want to. I think that makes it all the more important, don’t you?” Xuxi looked back up at last, gathering his nerve as he gave an apologetic little smile. “If you love something this much, I want to love it too, because I love you.”

It was the first time that those words had been spoken between them, and it made Kun’s pursed red lips soften with a reluctant sigh. “I’m only doing one more number tonight. Wait by the bar in the back ‘til I come for you— and do me a favor, don’t tell anyone that I’m your boyfriend, okay?”

It was hard not to be a little crestfallen, but Xuxi stayed towards the back of the venue and didn’t talk to anyone, fidgeting with the wrapping on the bouquet that Kun hadn’t even acknowledged. He was pissed, and he had every right to be, and— well, Xuxi had never seen Kun pissed before, so he didn’t know what to expect.

Half an hour later, Kun emerged from the back room in his street clothes, a simple black button-down and dark skinny jeans, with only the comically large suitcase he carried as evidence of his transformation. They went out back and called a cab to pick them up from the parking lot, and Kun was mostly quiet until they finally arrived back at Xuxi’s apartment together. They got into their pajamas and got comfortable on the couch, and Xuxi was wondering how the hell to ask his boyfriend how long he was going to be in trouble for, when Kun cut him off with an unexpected question: “Do you want to see some pictures of me? In makeup?”

“Uh, _yeah._ I’ve only wanted to for about a _thousand years.”_

“I’ve just had a lot of relationship trouble surrounding my drag,” Kun explained softly as he passed Xuxi his phone, eyes wide and heartbreakingly tentative, as though Xuxi didn’t already practically worship the ground he walked on. “I’ve had guys stop talking to me when they find out what I do, like I’m some freak of nature. I’ve also had guys get _super_ creepy about it, like they think dresses and heels are some kind of fetish for me.”

“Did you think I was gonna do that?” Xuxi looked down at the unlocked screen: Kun’s Instagram, or rather, Queen’s. Some pictures showcased outfits and costumes (all elegant and aesthetic, giving a sort of old-Hollywood-esque glamour, even the ones that bordered on slutty); others were Kun without the distraction of a wig, simply displaying the work of art that was his made-up face. The contouring and highlights, the long fake lashes, and the exaggeratedly bold lip all made him look like a different person, but that was still the soft mouth that he was addicted to kissing, and those were still the cute little ears that he could nibble on during foreplay and make Kun blush like it was their first time— “Holy shit! Wait— _wait._ You have 1.2 million followers?!”

“Hence why I told you to keep quiet. I don’t trust people not to mob you if they find out that we’re a couple. Especially since you were wearing those leather pants, with your hair all sexy and pushed back. I’m— I mean, for a drag queen, I’m kind of high-profile?” Kun laughed weakly, clearly not used to being put in this kind of position in front of people he actually knew. “But… you’re right, and I acknowledge that. I want you to be able to love all of me transparently… the way that I love you, too.” Kun squeezed Xuxi’s arm hard and buried his face in his shoulder, a certain indication that he was blushing. “As long as you promise that it won’t change the way you feel for me, I’ll try to let you in. I just love this too much. I love the way it feels to be with you, and to be myself…”

“If anything, it’s going to make me love you more.” Nothing different from the usual. Xuxi was pretty sure he loved Kun a little more every day that they were together, but at least now he had another fabulous reason.

//

Things changed. Not all at once - Xuxi hadn’t expected them to - but little by little, Kun began to bend, to let Xuxi into his charmed world. Sometimes, the nights that Xuxi came over were the nights that Kun opted to test out a new makeup look, and he would let his boyfriend watch from the bed in rapt silence. Other times, Xuxi would point out sources of inspiration for new looks: fashion photos, movie posters, even something as simple as a flower bouquet in a shop window or the koi fish in the pond at the park could do it sometimes. When Kun got inspired, he turned to his sketch book, and the outfit would appear from his fingers like magic. Not only did he do his own makeup, but he sewed, too, making a fair number of his things from scratch and altering others to his tastes.

And Xuxi was right. It _did_ send him spiraling. How did he end up with someone so— so _damn near_ perfect? Someone who impressed him every day, someone who spoiled him beyond what he deserved and yet always left him craving more?

Boyfriend or girlfriend, depending on the night— either way, Xuxi was in deep.

“Are you sure you actually want to do this?”

Kun was showing the first signs of nervousness, though he would never admit it: he had an awful tendency to fidget, and he was taking it out on his makeup kit, moving things here and there, popping the caps off and back on the lipstick tubes. His own face was in a state of renovation, with foundation setting on his cheekbones and glue drying in his eyebrows, a dramatic palette and a deep wine-red lip tint set aside for the next step. He liked the rare opportunity to see the process so entirely close up, broken down into its steps— and he should have supposed that it would take Halloween to make _asking for this_ even plausible. After all, what was cuter than couple costumes? What could _possibly_ be cuter than _Kun as Catwoman and Xuxi as Wonder Woman?_

“Sure I’m sure. If I wasn’t sure, I would have said so before I made you borrow a pair of size 15 high heels from Johnny.” Xuxi grinned softly, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m beyond ready. I want you to beautify me.”

“Your face is already so pretty. Seriously…” Kun brushed Xuxi’s bangs affectionately off of his freshly-washed forehead, lips quirking up in a sweet smile. “I’ll try my best to do you justice.”

Kun started with a clean beauty blender, some foundation poured on the back of his hand as a makeshift makeup palette; from there to Xuxi’s cheeks, feeling strange and damp for a moment as it settled. The darker shade was used sparingly below Xuxi’s cheekbones, along his jaw, dabbed on his nose and hairline: “These are your contours,” he explained quietly as he worked, voice at a whisper that swept over Xuxi in the most deliciously intimate way. “Don’t look in the mirror ‘til I’m done, because you’re going to look worse before you look better.”

“I want to see all the steps on me!” Xuxi protested, looking in the big, lit vanity mirror anyway. Yup, as promised, he and Kun looked crazy side-by-side, without their makeup blended; it made Xuxi grin, and Kun tutted softly.

“Look at me, will you? And hold your face still. This is hard enough for me as it is,” he scolded lightly, leaning in close and biting his lip in focus as he carefully painted the highlight on the tip of Xuxi’s nose.

Kun worked back and forth between their faces, giving Xuxi time to study himself between steps. Contouring and foundation was an entire _process,_ and he was amazed at the illusion that it cast over him, rounding out his masculine edges, hiding his sharp jaw and large nose. Next were his eyes— “I try to make my eyes look bigger and brighter when I do my makeup, but you already have gigantic eyes, so I’m trying to showcase that. Ah— you’re going to look so good with lashes, I already can’t wait!”

“Is this fun for you?” Xuxi asked curiously.

“I just love doing makeup,” Kun admitted with a little laugh. “I’ve thought about this before, you know. Wondered how you’d look. I just never do makeup on anyone besides myself. Close your eyes.” He raised one of the smaller brushes, loaded up with black, and Xuxi did exactly as he was told without question.

“I’ll be your guinea pig, literally anytime!”

“Babe, you _need_ to stop smiling. You’re wrinkling your eyes.”

“Fuck. Sorry.”

An unexpected, harsh blow of air against his cheek— the same way that Kun would loosen makeup particles from his makeup brushes. “Don’t mind me. I fucked up, but I’m going to fix it.”

“I’m content to sit here all night, honestly.”

Once the eye makeup was done (smoky, with dashes of a brilliant purple that looked lovely with his skin) it was time for lashes, affixed with a thin layer of glue, eyebrows covered up and then drawn back in _precisely_ perfect, and finally, lip primer and liner and bright red lipstick. _Damn,_ there were a lot of steps to this.

“How do I look?” Xuxi did his best to ask without moving his lips, which was no easy feat. Luckily, Kun seemed to understand just what he was asking, reaching out with his fingertip to clear a smudge from the corner of his mouth.

“Xu… you look _entirely_ too pretty,” Kun admitted with a little laugh. His own face was nearly finished, sans the wig: Catwoman demanded a sleek, striking eye done entirely in black and a pair of plum-purple lips so cute and pouty that Xuxi had to remind himself that kissing was off the table, at least until they got home from the Halloween party. “I’m so excited to go show you off to all my drag queen friends! They’re going to be so jealous! Ah— I forgot to tell you. My best friend Ten is going as Harley Quinn, but his boyfriend Sicheng is too proud for tits and tights, so he’s going as the Joker instead of Poison Ivy. He’s such a buzzkill. That officially makes you the coolest boyfriend in the group.”

Xuxi stopped listening right about then, because his chair had swiveled back towards the vanity mirror, and the moment he made eye contact with himself— yup, if he was single, he would have probably fucked her, even _without_ the wig. The curled lashes and thin liner made accentuated his round eyes, and his full lips popped in a bold cherry-red. His nose looked thinner, his jaw smaller, and his cheeks were carved into a face that he scarcely recognized as his own.

He smiled; she smiled. There was something about her that made him want to get to know her.

“Sorry if it’s not perfect,” Kun spoke into the silence that had fallen as he stood behind him— already changed into his pleather catsuit, which clung to every expertly padded curve as though they were all real and natural. It was crazy to Xuxi, suddenly, that there were boys in this world who couldn’t appreciate the _magic_ of drag. It was like a goddamn _superpower._ “Is there anything you think I should fix? In my opinion, the most important part of drag is the confidence, so if you don’t feel _sexy—”_

“I do! I feel… _amazing,”_ Xuxi responded with a sheepish smile that he found himself covering with his hand. Luckily, the thick slather of makeup on his face didn’t let even a hint of his blush show through (Kun had even thought to put makeup on his neck, Kun had thought of _everything)_. “I didn’t think I’d look this pretty. We're going to be the hottest lesbian couple at the party!”

“What, you didn’t think a pretty man could become a pretty woman?” Kun rolled his eyes, but not without a grin. “Here, come get in your costume while you keep fishing for compliments. Ten and Sicheng are gonna be here before too long, and we haven’t even _touched_ the wigs yet.”

“Okay!” Xuxi stood up, unable to detach his eyes from his own reflection until he had to pull his undershirt over his head as carefully as possible. No lie, he even looked kind of sexy with a full face of makeup and his pecs and abs out. “Hey, Kun darling…”

“Yes, Xuxi love?” Kun didn’t miss a beat, even as he took Xuxi’s spot in front of the mirror to slip his long black wig over his wig cap. Kun always fussed over his wigs in ways that Xuxi would maybe never understand, wanting them not just passable but _perfect,_ hairline blended into skin.

“I know you said that lots of men are weird about dating drag queens, but… would _you_ date one?”

“Would I?” Kun caught Xuxi’s gaze in the mirror, eyes wide with inquisition; for a second, they simply stared at each other, Kun almost party-ready, Xuxi still standing in just his underwear with his leotard in his arms. “Wait, what, are you talking about _yourself?”_

“Obviously, not myself in the _present tense._ But, like, if I decided…”

Kun laughed. Not mean-spiritedly, but _knowingly,_ as though he’d already had this conversation before and knew what the outcome was. “Wait ‘til you’ve been wearing your heels for a few hours before you ask things like that. Oh, and I still haven’t even tucked you yet!”

“Tucked? Wait, what do you mean?”

“Oh, _honey.”_


End file.
